TROLL ME

[tobi the good boy]

this came to me as a suggestion from a friend, i am doing a legal assessment task on the effects of cyberbullying and why they warrent law reform/introduction that are specfiic and provide harsh penealties to those who do cyber-bully.

Which brings me to you my fellow escapists, i am asking you to post your views on the idea of creating such laws, on a side note that would provide a greater homage to the title of this topic, could you list some your experiences with "trolls" that i could use as evidence to back my report

 

[katsumoto03]

Your life is... Most likely more signifigant than mine. You also might smell.


I have had some experience with people trolling me and even trolled someone myself once.

I find that the anominity (not sure on the spelling) of the internet allows people to express their opinions in ways they wouldn't normally in their day to day lives.

I myself am not afraid to insult people to their face, but I usually have no desire to with the people I know. Not unless they are Mirror's Edge fanboys.

 

[RatRace123]

I've never been personally trolled. But, some certain people have been trolled mercilessly, even outside of the internet.

If you're looking for a few cases of the trolled and how they were trolled I'd direct you encyclopedia dramatica, look for their lol-cow sections.

Some (mostly all) of it's not safe for work though.

 

[Rednog]

Yea...such laws would only work in extreme cases, ie a person being constantly hassled by another. And I'm pretty sure there are already some laws enforcing such actions, I remember a case where a mother was bullying some girl her son knew and she killed herself and she got prosecuted for bullying her online and leading to the girl's death. The problem, imo, is that you're going to have to jump through so many hoops to chase anyone down for trolling on the net, and then you run into freedom of speech issues and dealing with people in other states/countries and having to get warrants to get the ID of the person from their provider etc. Yes its unfair to the victim who is being bullied but there is way too much time, effort, and money on the line when the simple solution is to turn the fcking computer. The internet is like swimming in an ocean you might find some pretty coral filled with magnificent fish, or you might get bitten in the ass by the shark. And way too many people make it easy for themselves to be bitten.

 

[digiholic]

Registered for this response.

Putting laws that restrict "cyber-bullying" are unconstitutional, immoral, and horrifically overstepping the bounds of any public official short of a police state. Protecting Freedom of Speech sounds too cliché but it's the truth of the argument. If the government starts censoring the internet, what will happen next? The internet is currently the only unbiased source of opinions left in this world, and what's to stop the government from using the door opened by this "cyber-bullying" law to silence people they feel are threatening their power?

It's a slippery slope to facism. Keep the internet anonymous and relatively unregulated. People who get upset over "cyber-bullying" are just insecure whiners. People insult people all the time, not just online. The internet connects you to thousands of people at once, even if the same ratio of people are pricks as they are in real life, you'll see more online due to the number of total people you are in contact with.

I'd be more comfortable with the idea of anti-"cyber-bullying" laws if any politicians gave a damn about actual bullying. Where's that law that stops playground harassment, or locker room shenanigans? People are just jumping on to this "cyber-bullying" thing because it's a hot-button issue cause by moronic 12-year-olds posting their entire lives on facebook and complaining when people know about them. News flash: If you yell at the creepy guy in the van where your prepubescent daughter lives and that you keep a key under the mat, don't expect to see her again.

It's a combination of stupidity and greed that cause this idea to even be considered seriously.

 

[Irridium]

I was "cyber-bullied" once.

Know what I did? Ignore them.
Its that easy. They have no power over you in any way. All the cyber-bullies are are minor annoyances. They can't actually do anything to hurt you.

However things can go extreme, where they get your personal info and just go from there, but otherwise its just easily ignored. At least for me.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Putting laws that restrict "cyber-bullying" are unconstitutional, immoral, and horrifically overstepping the bounds of any public official short of a police state. Protecting Freedom of Speech sounds too cliché but it's the truth of the argument. If the government starts censoring the internet, what will happen next? The internet is currently the only unbiased source of opinions left in this world, and what's to stop the government from using the door opened by this "cyber-bullying" law to silence people they feel are threatening their power?

I completely agree with this poster. Laws that would "protect" against this sort of thing grossly overstep the duty of the government. Cyber bullying should be handled just like real bullying, by creating a disapproval of it and teaching kids whats wrong with hurting and harassing others. Kids who are so depressed that someone telling them to kill themselves on the internet throws them over the edge need counseling.

Also, welcome to the Escapist person I quoted.

 

[Anarchemitis]

 

[tobi the good boy]

thanks all round (except marq) your views have been quite helpful and arch, i will be using this picture in powerpoint presentation, may I?

 

[Anarchemitis]

thanks all round (except marq) your views have been quite helpful and arch, i will be using this picture in powerpoint presentation, may I?

The permission is not mine to grant.
However, this is the internet [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0] and you're using Powerpoint. I seriously doubt anyone will care about any sort of Creative Commons license that might be present on Deviantart.

 

[Walkchalk]

You are a horrible person and should do.... bad things to yourself....... and stuff.

Yeah, how do you like them apples? Im so good at trolling!

Anyway, I think cyber bullying is blown completely out of proportion. The only people it really affects are people that shouldnt be on the internet unsupervised anyway. Most mature people can just shrug it off when some random faceless schmuck calls them names and questions their sexual preferences over a small misunderstansing.

 

[likalaruku]

Troll me with your keyboard baby,
Troll me in your car,
Troll me with your cellphone darling,
I'll find out who you are.
Come up off your high horse now,
I'll tell you what your problem is.
Troll me!
I'm online, troll me troll me any anytime.
Troll me!
My love, you can troll me any day or night,
Troll me.

 

[Xojins]

Putting laws that restrict "cyber-bullying" are unconstitutional, immoral, and horrifically overstepping the bounds of any public official short of a police state. Protecting Freedom of Speech sounds too cliché but it's the truth of the argument. If the government starts censoring the internet, what will happen next? The internet is currently the only unbiased source of opinions left in this world, and what's to stop the government from using the door opened by this "cyber-bullying" law to silence people they feel are threatening their power?

I completely agree with this poster. Laws that would "protect" against this sort of thing grossly overstep the duty of the government. Cyber bullying should be handled just like real bullying, by creating a disapproval of it and teaching kids whats wrong with hurting and harassing others. Kids who are so depressed that someone telling them to kill themselves on the internet throws them over the edge need counseling.

Also, welcome to the Escapist person I quoted.

I disagree. Laws that would protect people from this kind of thing could actually help, seeing as cyber bullying is the same thing as harassment (which is a real crime). They wouldn't affect random trolls, but it would target those who continually harass the same people online. In fact, they should call it online harassment instead of cyber bullying to be less misleading.

About one town over from my university, there was a case this year involving a new student at the local high school. She was constantly teased in school, as well as online and over the phone; constantly put down and told several times that she should kill herself over the course of months (that part was done online maybe over the phone as well). You know what? She hung herself because she couldn't take it anymore. That's what cyber bullying is.

Call me overly sensitive, but there should be laws against it. Also fuck anyone that does stuff like this; it's not only wrong, but just straight up cowardly. If you wouldn't say it to someone's face, don't hide behind the internet to say it.